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Functional MRI evidence for adult motor cortex plasticity during motor skill learning

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Abstract

PERFORMANCE of complex motor tasks, such as rapid sequences of finger movements, can be improved in terms of speed and accuracy over several weeks by daily practice sessions. This improvement does not generalize to a matched sequence of identical component movements, nor to the contralateral hand. Here we report a study of the neural changes underlying this learning using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of local blood oxy-genation level-dependent (BOLD)1–4 signals evoked in primary motor cortex (Ml). Before training, a comparable extent of Ml was activated by both sequences. However, two ordering effects were observed: repeating a sequence within a brief time window initially resulted in a smaller area of activation (habituation), but later in a larger area of activation (enhancement), suggesting a switch in Ml processing mode within the first session (fast learning). By week 4 of training, concurrent with asymptotic performance, the extent of cortex activated by the practised sequence enlarged compared with the unpractised sequence, irrespective of order (slow learning). These changes persisted for several months. The results suggest a slowly evolving, long-term, experience-dependent reorganization of the adult Ml, which may underlie the acquisition and retention of the motor skill.

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Author notes

  1. Gundela Meyer

    Present address: Faculty of Medicine, University of La Laguna, 38320, Tenerife, Spain

  2. Robert Turner

    Present address: Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neuropsychology, NIMH, National Institutes of Health, Building 49 Room 1B80, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Avi Kami, Gundela Meyer, Michelle M. Adams & Leslie G. Ungerleider

  2. Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, NHLBI, National Institutes of Health, Building 10 Room B1D161, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Peter Jezzard & Robert Turner

Authors
  1. Avi Kami
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  2. Gundela Meyer
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  3. Peter Jezzard
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  4. Michelle M. Adams
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  5. Robert Turner
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  6. Leslie G. Ungerleider
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Kami, A., Meyer, G., Jezzard, P. et al. Functional MRI evidence for adult motor cortex plasticity during motor skill learning. Nature 377, 155–158 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/377155a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/377155a0

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